More than 250 elementary students from Whitfield County Schools will gather to perform for the public on Friday, March 23. The annual Elementary Honors Chorus program will be hosted at Southeast High School. Admission is free and the show begins at 6:30 p.m.

We encourage all parents to complete the Georgia Parent Survey, which is available in English or Spanish from Wednesday, Nov. 1 until Friday, March 29. The survey is modeled after the student survey and contains only 24 questions. It should only require five to 10 minutes for parents to complete the survey using a computer, smartphone, or tablet. Families without internet access should contact their school about completing the Georgia Parent Survey at the school.

Robots! Rockets! Middle school students get another chance this summer to learn about these things and much more. The 2018 Design, Engineering, & Manufacturing (DEM) Middle School Summer Camp is returning during the week of June 4–8. Applications for the free camp will be accepted until April 30 from any students in the community who will be enrolled in grades 6–8 this fall.

This has been a very stressful week in our schools and community. The aftermath of the shootings in Florida along with the false rumors and fallacious threats spreading on social media, plus the horrific incident that occurred at Dalton High School on Wednesday, has created a stressful environment in which to teach and to learn. We hope this will let you know what steps we are taking to keep your children safe and secure in all of our schools.

The Georgia Milestones Assessment System (Georgia Milestones) is a comprehensive assessment system spanning grades 3 through high school. Georgia Milestones measures how well students have learned the knowledge and skills outlined in the state-adopted content standards in English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. Students in grades 3 through 8 will take End-of-Grade (EOG) assessments in English Language Arts and Mathematics, while grades 5 and 8 students will also take the EOG Science and Social Studies assessments. High school students will take End-of-Course (EOC) assessments for each of the ten courses in which they are enrolled, as designated by the State Board of Education.